Many fans were confused last night not be the events themselves, but when they happened. With the amount of time compression on this show, sometimes it’s difficult to keep things straight. Harold Perrineau has been off the show for nearly two whole years. Yet on the show, less than a month passed between the time he left the island and last night’s episode.

Also, we wondered, when did Tom find time to get off the island during that month before he died? To answer these questions, here is a simple timeline using the days on the island to try and pinpoint when the flashbacks took place.

Day 67 (Saturday, November 27, 2004)::
-Michael and Walt are released in the boat get off the island.

Day 67-Day 74:
-Tom and the rest of the Others are at the Hydra Station, interrogating Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Tom is present throughout, including during Ben’s surgery.

Day 80-Day 81:
-Locke, Kate, Rousseau and Sayid see Jack playing football with Tom.
-The Others (Tom included) head off to the Ruins.

Day 87:
-Naomi lands on the island.

This timeline results in some serious issues fans should have with time. When Ben calls Michael on the radio, he is in his home in the barracks, which means that scene takes place on Day 81 at the latest. In other words, two weeks after leaving the island, Michael is on the freighter coming back.

Also, this means that Tom’s visit to New York City must have taken place between the time at Hydra and the time he’s seen playing football with Jack. This covers roughly a one week span that takes place one week after Michael leaves. This makes almost no sense.

Michael left in the boat, he had to find help, come ashore, somehow explain himself, get on a plane back to New York City, drop off Walt to live with his grandma, find an apartment, get into a car accident, recover, and only then did he meet Tom. Either the writers are playing fast and loose with the concept of time, or Michael had the busiest week in the history of the world.